In 1992, the author’s first child was born. Although a very
healthy 24 years old at the time, he decided that he should do the responsible
thing and purchase health insurance. Unexpectedly, there was protein in his
urine- a sign of kidney disease. A nephrologist diagnosed his problem as Iga
Nephropathy (Berger’s disease), a very rare disease. 80% of the people with it
live their lives symptom free; the other 20% decline abruptly around age 40 and
go into kidney failure. Knowing this, Lewis had checkups to keep track of his
kidney health, and sure enough, around age 40, his kidneys started shutting
down. Over the next few years, he progressed into end stage renal disease and
required dialysis.
Very involved in his church, Lewis believes that this is
God’s plan for him, and that he should just trust. And trust he does. As with
anyone with a severe illness, he has a lot of ups and downs. Papers aren’t
filed on time with the transplant coordinators, his brothers turn out not to be
suitable donors, dialysis treatments cause his blood pressure to climb to
dangerous levels. In the end, though, a series of events and a group called the
Alliance for Paired Donation, gets
him his needed kidney – and saves his brother’s life.
Lewis lays this at the feet of God, pointing out that his
brother was a minister, his own donor was a minister, and that he himself had
played Jesus in the church pageant for a number of years. Personally, I see it
as a lot of good people doing the right thing- and going above and beyond that
in several cases. His wife managed progress through the transplant program,
making sure every paper was where it needed to be. He was very proactive in his
own care. I’m happy that he had his faith, and that of his family and friends,
to help him through this, but it was also very important that he helped
himself. The book is decently well written and reads as if the author was
telling you the story in person. If you’re looking for medical detail, this
isn’t the book you want, though.
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